Times Literary Supplement (September 18, 2024): The latest issue features‘Autumn Fiction’ – Rachel Kushner, Olga Tokarczuk, László Krasznahorkai and Sally Rooney; Craig Brown on The Queen; A very Yorkshire horror; China’s Britain complex and The Looting of America…
This week’s @TheTLS, featuring @RozDineen on Rachel Kushner, Ann Manov on Sally Rooney, Claire Lowdon on Olga Tokarczuk and @NickHoldstock on László Krasznahorkai; @henryhitchings on coding; Sonia Solicari on domestic philosophy; Isaac Nowell on apples – and much more pic.twitter.com/rNCGLfNpO0
The technical knowledge of Egyptian architects once again exceeds expectations. Was Egypt’s oldest pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built using some seriously high-tech kit? And what’s with the huge, unexplained cavity that’s been discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza?
Living fossils
Meet the creatures for whom time has almost stood still. These animals give us a glimpse into what life was like millions of years ago, and show us just how resilient some groups have been to the calamitous events that have consigned others – such as the dinosaurs – to extinction.
A mysterious UFO
There’s a mysterious object hurtling at one million miles per hour across the Milky Way. It’s moving so fast that it could exit the Milky Way entirely – and scientists are still trying to figure out what it is. Not quite a planet and not quite a star, so what is it?
Proba-3
The Proba-3 mission aims to unravel the mysteries of the Sun’s atmosphere by creating artificial eclipses on demand. But achieving this feat means teaching two spacecraft to perform a complicated dance with an unprecedented level of precision. If the mission is successful, scientists will be able to study the Sun’s corona in unprecedented detail, ushering in a new era for space observation.
Plus
Impostor syndrome: Ever feel like you’re an impostor, who’s bluffing their way through life? You’re not alone. Even the world’s most brilliant minds suffer from the fear of being ‘found out’. But what causes impostor syndrome? And more importantly, how can you overcome it?
Q&A: Boost your general knowledge! This issue: How do I break free of blame culture? How often should I change my toothbrush? How are identical twins created? Did dinosaurs have fleas? Why does my computer screen look so weird when I take a picture of it? What’s the smelliest animal? And more.
Sleep gadgets: A bad night’s sleep can follow you for days, making you tired and grumpy. Our tech experts have rounded up the best gadgets to help perfect your sleep routine and make the most of your shut-eye.
Scientific American (September 16, 2024): The October 2024 issue features ‘How To Go Back To The Moon’ – Inside NASA’s ambitious, controversial Artemis mission; The science of Empathy and Hope for Sickle Cell Disease…
Liberal democracy’s last stand against Big Tech by Barry C. Lynn
In 1609, James I lectured the English people on his rights and responsibilities as king. It was his duty to “make and unmake” them, he said. Kings have the “power of raising and casting down, of life and of death; judges over all their subjects, and in all causes.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (September 15, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Making Art and Selling Out’ = In Danny Senna’s fleet, funny novel “Colored Television”, a struggling writer in a mixed-race family is seduced by the taste of luxury….
The Supreme Court justice has been drawn to American history and books about the “challenges and triumphs” of raising a neurodiverse child. She shares that and more in a memoir, “Lovely One.”
Rate cuts and subsidies from Washington may help, but homeownership is likely to remain out of reach for millions of Americans. What’s ahead for buyers and builders.
…the U.S. has been too slow in arming its ally, too restrictive in setting conditions on the use of weapons, and generally too fearful of Vladimir Putin’s threats. The result is that Ukraine, for all its unfathomable courage and boundless ingenuity, has been permitted to fight, but not win, the war. If this keeps up, Ukraine could actually lose.
When I step back a bit, I can see that Zuckerberg isn’t just haplessly begging our forgiveness. He’s trying to save his business. Meta Platforms, the company he controls, contains some of the world’s most widely used and profitable digital brands, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta appears to be thriving, with its stock price more than quadrupling since a rocky 2022. But Zuckerberg knows that his company’s brands are built on foundations of sand. Just as a sandbar will move with tides, the user base of any social platform can drift away in a surprisingly short time.
This is Harris’s challenge: She’s the incumbent vice president running for higher office in a change election. She’s an undefined candidate whose positions and job performance are vulnerable to attack. She wants to be seen as a disruptor while remaining loyal to President Biden. And she wants to move away from the far-left views she held as a senator while she continues to proclaim that her values have stayed the same.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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